Starting Over
by RRFriendsFan
Summary: Rachel and Monica are highschool friends. They lost touch after the graduation when Rachel and her family moved to Paris. She then studied fashion there and eventually got married at 29 and had a child. Her husband died a year ago. And now she's ready to start over with her daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Rachel and Monica are highschool friends. They lost touch after the graduation when Rachel's family moved to Paris. She then studied fashion there and eventually got married at 29 and a year later she had a child, Charlotte, now with 12 years old. Her husband died a year ago victim of brain tumor. She was a mess and has been seeing a therapist since his death. Now she's ready to start over with her daughter. And in her mind, the only way for them to move on, is to pack her and Charlotte's things and move back to the place she left so many years ago: New York City.

* * *

"Rachel, are you sure you want to do this after so many years?"

"Yes, mom, I'm sure. This is what I need now. Fresh air, new challenges. I need to see some new faces again, be excited again. Paris is not for me anymore, None of this make sense without Henry."

"Oh, darling... I had no idea you were feeling so..."

"Lost? Lonely?"

"Well, yeah."

"I loved Henry, mom. He was everything to me."

"I know, dear. But what about Charlotte? What is she thinking about this?"

"Well, I did talk to her. She's not too happy about the fact she's leaving her school and friends behind, but I'm sure she'll end up liking the idea and enjoying New York. And it's not like we don't have other ways to keep in touch with our loved ones. It's not like when we got here. I still wonder what happened to Monica. She was my best friend in highschool."

* * *

 **A week later...**

"Charlotte, all set?"

"Yes, mom!" Charlotte studied all her life at a bilingual school. Since Rachel decided to go back to the US, they've been talking just in english at home.

"Then help me grab our things. Our flight leaves in three hours."

"I'm going!"

Rachel is almost closing their apartment front door when Charlotte stops her to take one last glance in the place was so happy with her family.

"C'mon, sweetheart. No more tears from now on."

"I feel like we're leaving dad behind."

"Oh, Charlotte, we're not. Remember when he said he wanted us to be happy and leave all the pain and sadness in the past?"

"Yeah, but..."

"That's what we're doing, darling. It's only us now. And _this_ , this is not our life anymore. We don't deserve to live a life stuck in the past. We need to move on."

"Ok. You're right, but you know what else sucks? That I won't be able to eat the Nutella crêpe everyday after class."

"Well, I'm sorry for that, I'll miss it too, but you know what?"

"What?"

"In New York you'll see a freakin' Dunkin' Donuts at every corner."

"You're kidding, right? I love that!"

"If this will help you be happier there, then I'm not joking. Now, let's go... we have a long way ahead of us."

Charlotte closes their apartment door and whispers "bye, dad" one last time.

Their flight already landed at JFK and they're pushing their large suitcases in the stroller.

"Oh my God, mom! Do we really needed to bring all this stuff?"

"Of course! Our whole life is here now! C'mon! Let's get a cab."

* * *

 **Sometime later...**

"Wow... this is HUGE!" says Charlotte while exploring the place.

"Right? My grandmother lived here since she and grandpa got married. I wish you could've met them."

"This place looks like Blair Waldorf's in Gossip Girl but even better, cause this is freakin' real."

"Well, welcome to the Upper East Side, my dear. We just have to do some major changes here. The decor is really old."

"This is amazing. It's like a dream come true."

"I'm so glad you liked it. I can feel we're gonna be really happy here."

"I liked the aprtment, but please, mom, don't get too excited about it. I still hate the fact that we had to leave Paris. I'm already missing my friends, my school, grandma and grandpa."

"Oh, Charlotte. Changes are for the best. Trust me."

"I'm trying, mom. I really am."

* * *

 ** _Hey guys! I'm back at writing... I started this sometime ago, corrected some things, then decided to post it again._**

 ** _Let me know your thoughts about it. Do you think I should keep going with this one? Reviews and ideas are ALWAYS welcome!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hey guys, thank you for your kind reviews. I'll try to keep updating this one since I loved to write the first chapter. Now on with the 2nd. Don't forget to leave a review for this one too._**

* * *

Two weeks later, they're still settling. There's a mess in their apartment since they're still in the process of buying furniture and other stuff.

Charlotte is already enrolled in a great school, and Rachel, who is a designer is setting up her atelier in New York. She designs wedding dresses and suits. When she came to the city, she brought her team with her, including her personal assistant, Jacqueline, or how Rachel likes to call her, Jackie.

It's almost 5PM and Rachel and Jackie in her atelier settling up the final touches before opening it for good in the next week.

"Jackie, I'll go pick up Charlotte from school and talk to her teacher, she called me sooner. Do you mind finishing things here?"

"Not at all, Rach. I'll take care of everything."

"Thank you. Have good night then", Rachel says embracing her assistant.

"You too. And send my love to Char."

"I will. Bye, Jackie."

* * *

 **At Charlotte's school**

"Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" Asks Rachel kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Ok. Now let's go home, please."

"Wait, wait, wait, young lady. I have to have a little talk with Mrs. Horowitz before we go."

"Right now?"

"Yes. Right now. Wait for me here, ok?"

"Fine."

"Mrs. Greene, come on in, please?"

"Thank you." Rachel says as she enters the well decorated office.

"I'm glad we got to talk again, Mrs. Greene."

"My pleasure, but please, you can call me Rachel."

"As you wish, Rachel."

"So... what's happening? Don't tell me Charlotte is already in trouble..."

"Well... we're having some issues..."

"What kind of issues?"

"The thing is Charlotte is a very sweet girl, but it appears she's having some trouble with another girl from her class."

"Alright, who's that girl, and what exactly happened?"

"Apparently she pushed that other girl and when she fell she almost hit her head on the wall."

"Charlotte? Are you sure, Mrs. Horowitz?"

"I wasn't near when it happened, but from what I heard..."

"Ok... I'm sure my daughter wouldn't have done it, if not been led to it..."

"Mrs. Greene, here's what we can do about it. We can schedule a meeting with both of them and the school's psychologist and..."

"Maybe you can schedule a meeting with me, Charlotte, the other girl and her parents."

"Fair enough."

"I will call her parents, and as soon as I have a date, I'll let you know."

"That's good. Here's my atelier address, if you need." Rachel says already leaving the office.

"Oh, and, Mrs. Horowitz, what's the girl's name?"

"Erika. Erika Geller Bing."

"Thank you. Have a great night."

"Bye, Mrs. Greene."

* * *

 **At home**

Mother and daughter are having dinner at their renovated dining room and there's no other sound other than the tinkling of the cutlery.

"So... can you please tell me what happened between you and that other girl?"

"Nothing much."

"Well, it was important enough for your teacher to call me in the middle of the afternoon. And ou know I've never got any complaints about your behavior before."

"Yeah, but you know what, mom? If we were still in Paris, things would be the same."

"Charlotte, not again with this. We would still be unhappy there."

"Mom, stop thinking just about yourself!" The teenager said pounding the cutlery on her already empty plate.

"But aren't you happy here?"

"What made you think I am? The fact that I loved this huge apartment?"

"Oh, Charlotte... you have to try. For me, for us, for your father..."

"Mom, please. I lost my father, my friends, my family... and all of this practically at the same time. How can I be happy? I don't have nothing here. Nothing!"

"You know I completely understand you. It was really tough for me when my parentes took me and my sisters to Paris, I lost my best friend, and at that time, there wasn't e-mail, WhatsApp, and all of these things for us to keep in touch. Just letters... so eventually we stopped comunicating and now I don't know what happened with her. I don't know if she fulfilled her dreams, whether she became a chef, or if she's married, whether she is alive or not ... now with you is different. Char, you have all the ways to keep in touch with your loved ones. And in the end, moving to Paris was really good. Honestly, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I got to study fashion, met your father and got married to him... and you know, Paris gave me you, the most importante thing in my life."

Charlotte sighs "I promise, I'll try."

"Thank you, sweetheart. I love you." Rachel says smiling at her daughter.

Charlotte then hugs her mother thinking how Lucky she is to have a mother like hers. "I love you too. Good night, mom."

"Night."

* * *

 **Some time later**

Rachel is in her bed reading a book when she hears a gentle knock at the door.

"Come in, Charlotte."

"Mom..."

Rachel pats on her bed, hinting to her daughter to climb on it.

"Can I sleep here with you?"

"What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep. I keep thinking about what happened with that Erika girl today and I don't want to go to that school tomorrow."

"Tell me everything..."

"It was silly, but it still bothered me."

"I'm all ears."

"She started talking about my clothes, saying things like 'there goes the rich girl, oui, oui, oui' and then at recess she made fun of my accent... I couldn't take it, so I pushed her and she fell. She almost hit her head. I was afraid that I could have hurt her, but she yelled at me and I saw that she was good."

Rachel chuckles at this. "Well, I know these things shouldn't happen, but unfortunately they do. I can't say you were right in pushing her, but you did great at standing up for yourself, and I'm proud of you for that. I asked Mrs. Horowitz for a meeting with that girl and her parents, so here's hoping everything will be fine." Says Rachel crossing her fingers.

"Ok, mom. I trust you."

"That's good to hear."

"So... can I sleep with you tonight or not?"

"Of course you can. You're always welcome here."


End file.
